Mixer Cover

Today I sewed a mixer cover for my mixer. I have been meaning to do this for years, but had never got around to it. I used a tutorial that I found on the internet. I made a few changes to her directions. I lined my cover with muslin and instead of quilting it, and I used fusible fleece on the outside and interfacing on the inside pieces. I also just used regular seams for the cover instead of bias tape like she did. The other thing I did was instead of drawing a circle like she suggests to make the arch on the front and back pieces, I just used my rotary cutter to cut around the edge of a salad plate. It fits great and I like how it looks in my kitchen.

Handmade Gifts

This Christmas, the boys and I were the recipients of some great handmade gifts. My sister Julie made the sock monkeys for the boys. Jack's has the red scarf and Ryan's has the blue hat and glasses. Ryan named his monkey Monster Truck. He's slept with him for his naps and at night since he got him on Christmas eve. I think they are so cute.

My sister also made the below pillow for me. She made up the pattern of the dandelion and embroidered it on the pillow. I LOVE it.

My cousin Katie made these blocks and bag for Jack. They are super cute and he loves chewing on them.

Katie also made the car roll for Ryan below. His name is on the outside...
and when its flipped over, there is a road and pockets for each car. It is the coolest thing.
I just had to share because these gifts are so special!

Christmas

We had a whirlwind of a Christmas. Our Christmas starts on Christmas eve morning at my parents' house. Ryan was beyond excited to open presents this year. He couldn't wait.

Jack was really into the wrapping paper and bows. I think the presents will be more interesting next year.

The package below was the one that interested Ryan the most. He couldn't wait to open it. Inside he found a dump truck and a loader. He was thrilled.

He also liked pretending to be a package. Here he is "surprising" me when I unwrapped my "present."

Our next Christmas event was at our house with Phil's mom and her husband, Don. The boys opened their gifts from them. Again, Jack was really into the paper and bows.

After Christmas with Grammy and Papa, we went to church where Ryan had his debut performance in the Christmas program. The preschoolers have always been and always will be my favorite part of the performance. When I asked Ryan why he didn't make the animal sounds in his favorite song he said, "because I didn't want to." I also complimented one of his friends on how well she sang. She looked at me and said, "I know." I love 3 year olds.

Our last stop on Christmas eve was at my Grandma Net's house. Denise's husband, Andrew, took the family photos for us.

Christmas concluded for us the next morning when Ryan found this gift under the tree.

He was pretty excited and had a good time riding it on Christmas morning. What an event!

What a Mighty God We Serve!

What a mighty God we serve

What a mighty God we serve

Angels bow before Him

Heaven and Earth adore Him

What a mighty God we serve!

I've had this song stuck in my head since last night when Phil's dad arrived at our house. He and his wife Pat were in a pretty serious car accident on their way home from a cruise Sunday afternoon. Tom (Phil's dad) doesn't remember what happened, but they went off the road and crashed. Pat was air lifted to KMC, while his dad had a ride in an ambulance. Both will recover fine, but Pat is still in the hospital. Phil's dad got here and there were hugs and tears all around as we were reminded of what an amazing God we serve and we are so grateful that they are alive and here with us.

This event has completely overshadowed what our intended weekend plans were. We went up to Fresno to celebrate and see the performance of Phil's play that he wrote for NorthPointe Community Church. The play was great and was received well by the audience. Phil has worked so hard on writing it and I have helped him edit many drafts. We loved seeing the final product being performed in front of us. I am incredibly proud of him and his success. If any of you are in the Fresno area, I highly recommend seeing the play. It won't disappoint.

Our family has so much to be thankful for this Christmas season. I am so grateful for my part time job and my return to it in January, I love my little boys and my big boy (Phil), and I love our wonderful families. I am so proud of Phil for his success in writing and I am so thankful for the faithfulness of the Lord.

Merry Christmas!

6 months!

**UPDATE**

I took Jack the the doctor for his check up (12/18/09). He is one big boy! 19lbs. 14oz. and 27.75 inches long! I can't believe it. Since both of these measurements fall into the 90th percentile, the doctor commented that he is "very symmetrical." I thought that was really funny.

Jack turned 6 months old today. I can't believe how much he's grown and how quickly the time has gone by. Jack's interests now are chasing Rita and Jed around the house in his walker. He also likes to run his walker over Ryan's cars and then laugh when Ryan gets mad. His favorite people are Ryan and Rita. He has no interest in sitting up and if I try to make him sit up, he pushes himself backward, then rolls over and tries to pull himself forward toward any object he can, without luck. He has two little teeth that look so cute when he smiles. He is working on getting his top two teeth, but those two are giving him trouble. He is a super happy baby and is pretty easy going. He loves being around people. He only gets unhappy when he is tired, or hungry. I'm just thankful both of those situations are easy to fix. I love this little guy so much!

I'm a Little Indian

Ryan has been learning quite a lot at preschool this year. One of his new pastimes is singing. Tuesday, when I picked him after school, he was wearing the little Indian boy costume and singing the song in the video. He taught it to me and I think it's such a fun song. In case you can't understand the words when he sings, here they are below.

I'm a little Indian on the go

Here is my arrow, here is my bow

When I go out hunting, hear me shout,

"Bear, buffalo you better watch out!"

(the screaming you hear in the background it Jack.)

I hope everyone has had a fantastic Thanksgiving and has enjoyed some time with family and friends.

New Glasses

We found out that Ryan needed glasses at his 3 year check up. Today, we were able to go pick them up. I think he looks pretty cute if I do say so myself. So far he's been okay with wearing them since he can see so much better. Hopefully he'll take good care of them.

Church Nursery Update

The church nursery is finally done! Thanks to the efforts of several wonderful friends, and my great husband, we were able to get this room done and I am so happy with it. I apologize for the terrible cell phone pictures, but I didn't have my camera with me. If you are at church tomorrow, take a look and come see it in person.

Preschool conversations

Ryan has been learning a lot at preschool lately and he's had some funny things to tell us about.

Wednesday night, Ryan and I were playing cars in his bedroom when he said, "Mommy, what's indibisable (indivisible)?" I said, "Oh, are you learning the flag salute (formerly known as the flag flute)?" He said he was. I then told him that indivisible means that it won't come apart. He then started to recite the "flag flute" with all his 3-year-old vocabulary. Hilarious.

Last night, I was giving Ryan a bath and he said, "Mommy, have you ever heard of pilgrims?" I said yes and asked him if he had been learning about them in preschool. He said he was. I asked what he knew about them. He said, "Well, there was this bad king and they didn't like him very much so they all got on a big boat and left."

I can't wait to hear his version of what he learned about next week.

Trick or Treat

Ryan had a hard time choosing what he wanted to be for Halloween. His first thought was that he and Jack should be bananas because he had seen the costume in a catalog and in his words, it, "cracked him up." Over the course of a few days, he repeatedly went back to the catalog, looked at the picture, and laughed. Next, he thought he should be a monkey, but Jack should still be a banana. One Saturday, Uncle Royce took him to a car show, which marked a turning point in costume picking. He decided to become a race car driver. We looked for a costume at Target, but to no avail. I finally found his costume on Amazon. I then asked him what he thought Jack should be if he was going to be a race car driver. He was thoughtful and quiet for a moment, then said, "he should be a stop sign... no... a stoplight." I thought it was so clever and realized this was something I could make. A little felt, cut a few circles, and voila! A Halloween costume.

This was Ryan the morning of his costume party at preschool

This picture shows how much Jack adores and studies Ryan. I love it.

A great smile on my little stoplight

Aunt Julie got into the Halloween festivities and dressed up as a cat while she passed out candy. Her costume was really cute. Check out her blog for her other and more hilarious costume.

Since we trick or treated out in my parents neighborhood, we had to go by car and load and unload in car seats each time, which was quite tiring in the end. Maybe next year we'll walk a neighborhood instead. All in all, we had a good time.

Jack - 4 months old

Jack had his 4 month visit this week and Ryan had his 3 year check up. Dr. Shah's office was kind enough to schedule them at the same time. Phil had taken the afternoon off because Doug and Vanessa were here. As I was getting ready to leave, Phil volunteered to come with me. I said, "sure," and I was so thankful I did. Trying to wrangle a baby and a preschooler is no easy task. Unbeknownst to me, Ryan had to pee in a cup. I gave Phil this task as I undressed Jack to be weighed and measured. Upon weighing and measuring Jack, my suspisions that Jack had become a much bigger boy were confirmed.

• Jack weighs 16lbs. 11 0z.
• He is 26 3/4 inches long (Ryan was this big at 6 months)
• He is rolling all over the place
• He smiles and "talks" all the time
• He can make his hands grab more of the things he wants
• He sucks his 2 middle fingers constantly so it looks like he is making the "I love you" sign with his hands
• He holds onto his bottles or my hand that is holding the bottles in case I may try to take his food away.
• He giggles
• The person he responds to the most is Ryan. If Ryan gets out of Jacks line of vision, he gets upset
• Ryan taught Jack to squeal. Heaven help my poor ears
• Jack likes to scoot his walker backwards and when he backs up against something, he lets me know
• I don't think Jack has any idea that he is only 4 months old because he is trying to catch up with his brother. I think he'll be up and moving before I'm ready for it.

I am sure enjoying being mom to my two little (big) guys.

What a Week!

We've had quite a busy week around here. Doug and Vanessa arrived last Thursday and we had a blast hanging out with them. We did a lot of great cooking and eating. I can only think of one other time when I've had so many pots and pans out at one time, but it was worth it.

Ryan thoroughly enjoyed his aunt and uncle and acted like he had acquired a new toy for the week. (Ryan was in the trash because he couldn't find his stool to wash his hands and thought the trash would give him a boost.) Jack had a lot of smiles so I think he enjoyed it too.

During this visit, we also started the remodel on the nursery at church. I'm happy we started it, but after about 5 hours of work, we still haven't even finished the primer. I'm hoping to get it finished soon, but coordinating everyone's schedules is proving to be a daunting task. I can't wait to see the outcome and hopefully I'll have pictures soon.

My teaching partner started her maternity leave this week so that means I am going to be full time again until Christmas. My days went well this week, but I'm feeling the stress of parent conferences coming up and report cards. I have enjoyed sharing these responsibilities so much and it is weird to have to tackle them by myself again. I will certainly miss my partner during this time.

Today was supposed to be another work day on the nursery, but there were too many conflicts. Instead, I'm relaxing in a quiet house with my cup of coffee. I'm thankful for this moment.

It's Finished!

I finished my bag and I made a diaper clutch to go with it. I'm very happy with the finished product.

New Season and a New Project

As summer shifts into fall, I am also beginning a shift to a new season. I should be able to drop my last feeding with Jack this week and will be "unattached" to my little baby. I will also be returning to work full time sometime before the end of the month. I am trying to get myself back together mentally and have not had a great week because of a negative reaction to my medication. I am hopeful and optimistic that the coming week will be better and I will yet again be me.

In light of this new season, I thought a new bag would be in order. I used some of my birthday money at Strawberry Patches and began designing a pattern last week. Today I cut it out, basted all the interfacings, and sewed the outside together. I can't wait to see the finished product, but here is a taste of things to come.

Here is my messy room in "Project Mode."

Lastly, Kate visited last week and brought Jack this cute little hat that she knitted for him. I love it and can't wait until it's cool enough for him to wear it.

Random Stuff

This past week has been a major roller coaster for our family. On top of what I posted last week, we also lost our daycare person. I was in a panic, but God is good, and within a day, everything worked out and we love our new person. I also went and saw my new doctor and got some medicine that really seems to be helping so I'm am SUPER thankful for that because I feel like myself again. Lastly, I got a haircut and color to complete our fresh start this week.

Because of feeding Jack formula, I needed a few more things. Below is the first new thing that I think is fabulous. It is a formula dispenser for when we are on the go. I love this one because it opens so easily and closes so tightly. My old one was hard to open and I always ran the risk of formula going everywhere once I pried it open.

This next thing is the coolest thing ever. It is a mesh bag for the dishwasher to hold all the bottle nipples and rings. It is along the same lines conceptually as a lingerie bag. I love it because it doesn't take up hardly any room in my dishwasher. They carry it online at babisrus or at amazon. It is so much better than the dishwasher baskets.

The best part about this last week was that it was Ryan's 3rd birthday. Below is a picture of Rita on the morning of Ryan's birthday. Notice all the stuffed animals. Ryan has never, ever been partial to stuffed animals until his preschool had a teddy bear day. We had to go through the house to find a teddy bear a student had given me so he had one to bring to school. We pulled out a lot of stuffed animals in the process, which now ALL sleep on Ryan's bed. He calls them his friends. We think he's pretty cute and we liked that Rita wanted to be one of his "friends."

Ryan has been really into Mercer Mayer's Little Critter stories. We bought him one called Just Me and My Little Brother for a birthday present. When he found it in his gift box, we had to read it immediately.

I love this next picture because it shows just how crazy and excited Ryan was on his birthday. We could not get him to hold still for a single picture so we have tons of pictures that look like this.

And if that wasn't enough birthday, we had his friends over last Saturday to play and I made some cupcakes for the event. I think they came out pretty cute.
I'm hoping for a smooth and uneventful week this week. I think we need it.

On a personal note

I've had trouble with insomnia and anxiety off and on for almost 3 years ever since Ryan was born. During my pregnancy with Jack, it disappeared, and I felt great. Since Jacks delivery, it's returned, unfortunately. Since I had already gone through all of that when Ryan was born, I didn't hesitate and went to my doctor for some help. Medication and nursing do not go well together, but I was determined to nurse Jack. I accepted the risks, and started taking some meds that were on the safer side. I have definitely worried about their affect on Jack, but also realized that I needed some help. The results have been inconsistent, and the past week, for whatever reason, has been more difficult for me. I went back to my doctor yesterday and he agreed that I needed some more help, but he said I would not fully get better, nor could he prescribe much of anything, unless I stopped nursing. I started crying immediately and he asked (in a way that was meant for me to sort through my own feelings) why it was so important to me. I said I really didn't know because I really have no problem with formula and have been supplementing Jack since day one. He referred me to another doctor for some additional help and asked me to consider weaning Jack so I could fully get better.

I had a lot of tears on the way home, and then I talked with Phil, my sister, and my mom, and they were all so supportive of me. They all helped me recognize that I have had too much on my plate since returning to work, knowing that I will be full time in about a month, and trying to drop off the boys in two different places each morning. In addition to all that, on my work days, instead of eating lunch with the teachers, I've rushed to feed Jack, then I've hurried back to school. I've missed the friendships of my colleagues and the strain of this arrangement has taken its toll. I decided that the doctor was right.

Today, my confidence has grown in my decision as I watched Jack go 3 hours (!) between feedings with the bottle. Not only that, but I realized no longer will I have to schedule my entire day around his feedings, or plan to be home by a certain time when I've gone out for a bit. I can pick to wear any kind of clothes, including dresses, that I want and they won't look wrinkled from pulling them up all day. Phil realized the best thing of all; we can go out of town for a weekend without children sooner than when Jack turns one. I think it's going to be alright and I'm looking forward to meeting with my new doctor next week to figure out what to do next.

Car Cake and Birthdays

September is upon us and in our family, that means lots of celebrations. The 6th was our anniversary and Phil and I got to have a date and had dinner at Frugatti's. Yesterday was my birthday and we had dinner with my family. Tomorrow, we'll celebrate all the September birthday's with my extended family. We'll finally finish it all off with Ryan's first friend party next weekend. The party tomorrow means that I had to bake Ryan's race track cake today. This was no easy task with two children in the house. My mommy brain couldn't think clearly with all the distractions so I made a huge mistake of not putting my cake plate under my 9x13 cake pan, and THEN flipping it over. Instead, I went with the dump approach and consequently broke apart our cake. I was upset, Ryan was in tears, and I thought I had ruined everything. Anyway, frosting and Oreo cookie crumbs seemed to be able to fix everything and the cake turned out looking better than expected.

The damaged cake

Ryan asking if it was going to be alright

Ryan yelling, "CHEESE," with the finished product

Happy Ryan

And this was Ryan when he realized that he would have to wait til tomorrow to eat his cake and get his cars back. Poor kid. Being nearly 3 is hard.

Lastly, here is a video of Ryan giving his thoughts on his cake and his upcoming birthday.